The Royal Tenenbaums · written by Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson · 2001

Ari says their mother would have wanted them to meet Royal before he died; Chas turns his chair toward them and sighs.

Scene 57 of 143 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

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Begins 48 min into a 1:59 film

The story so farBefore scene 57

After losing his hotel room, Royal claims he has only weeks to live so he can move back in with his estranged family; as the truth unravels, he must find a way to be useful and earn a place in their lives.

Scenes 1–39
Royal is absent from the children’s adult lives, and their family remains shaped by his betrayals and abandonment.
Scenes 40–47
Royal wants a path back to Etheline and the children, and claims impending death will give him one.
Scenes 48–50
He returns to the house and openly asks his children for a chance to make things right.
Just before
Scene 54
At Etheline’s excavation, Henry apologizes for proposing and falls into a pit; Etheline admits she is nervous and has not slept with a man in eighteen years.
Scene 55
Etheline tells Margot she may be falling for Henry and reveals his proposal; Margot is delighted at the idea of a father.
Scene 56
Royal secretly approaches Ari and Uzi at the Y, introduces himself and asks them to request a meeting from Chas.
Scene 57
This scene

57INT. CHAS’ BEDROOM. DAY.

Ari and Uzi sit across from Chas. He is behind his desk with his back turned to them. Ari and Uzi are both dressed in black Adidas warm-ups. Chas wears his red one. A technician tinkers with a large Xerox machine on the other side of the room. Another technician rolls in a crate on a dolly.

ARI

I bet Mom would’ve wanted us to meet him

before he died, wouldn’t she?

Chas turns his chair around and looks to Ari and Uzi. Silence. He sighs.